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Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Now, I don't know about you, but I had never heard of a baked potato being baked in the oven (imagine that) until I got married. I know that that's kind of weird, but I grew up with microwaved potatoes. There was no "baked" about it. Well, one day something life-changing happened: my husband informed me that he always grew up with the baked-in-the-oven, crispy-on-the-outside-and-delicious-on-the-inside potatoes. What was a girl to do? I really didn't know how to make these things. Well, one day, I found a recipe (who would've thought that someone would actually need a recipe for them!) for baked potatoes. Now there's no way that I'm going back to the microwaved ones!

Anyway, that's a long enough of an intro. Here's what I do to make the staple of any meal: baked potatoes.

Preheat oven to 350

Scrub potatoes under running water with a vegetable scrubber (I just got a new one, and it's great!) Make sure to have at least one potato per person.

Take a fork and puncture the potatoes in a couple places

Pour some oil (I use olive oil) in a Ziploc bag, enough to lightly coat the potatoes

If desired, sprinkle some garlic salt on the potatoes

Place potatoes directly on center rack in preheated oven

Bake for about 1 hour until potato skins are slightly wrinkly and the potatoes reach desired softness

Top with your favorite toppings and enjoy as a side to chicken or steak, or as a dinner by itself